Closing Costs Estimator
Buyer closing costs as an editable line-item list with typical US ranges pre-filled. 100% free, no signup. Everything runs in your browser.
Loading the tool…
Closing costs are the money you hand over at the closing table on top of your down payment, and this estimator lays them out the way they actually appear on your paperwork: line by line. Loan origination, appraisal, title insurance, escrow and settlement fees, recording, prepaid taxes and insurance, and discount points each get their own row with a typical US range pre-filled. Every single line is editable, because the honest truth is that these costs vary by state, by lender, and by deal, and any calculator that spits out one confident number is guessing.
The tool totals everything and shows it as a percentage of your purchase price, all in your browser with nothing uploaded and no account. I built it line by line because that is how I finally understood my own first closing statement, one confusing fee at a time.
How to use
- Enter your purchase price and loan amount so the percentage-based fees have something to work from.
- Review each pre-filled line item: origination, appraisal, title insurance, escrow, recording, and prepaids.
- Edit any line to match quotes you have received. A lender's estimate beats my defaults every time.
- Add discount points if you are buying down the rate, and zero out lines that do not apply to your deal.
- Check the running total and the percentage of purchase price at the bottom.
- Update the numbers as real quotes arrive and watch the total adjust instantly.
Why use our closing costs estimator?
Most advice says budget 2 to 5 percent of the purchase price, which is a range so wide it is nearly useless. On a 400,000 dollar home that is a spread of 8,000 to 20,000 dollars. Breaking the estimate into components shrinks the uncertainty, because you can pin down the big items early: title insurance and origination usually dominate, and both can be quoted long before closing day.
The editability is the point, not a nice-to-have. Title insurance is regulated differently in Texas than in California, transfer taxes range from zero in some states to serious money in others, and attorney states add a fee that escrow states do not have. I refuse to pretend I know your county's recording fee, so every default here is a starting point clearly labeled as one. These are estimates for planning, not financial advice, and never a substitute for your lender's official paperwork.
Speaking of official paperwork: once you apply for a mortgage, your lender must send a standardized Loan Estimate within three business days, and shortly before closing you get a Closing Disclosure with the final figures. The CFPB's Closing Disclosure explainer walks through that document field by field. This tool is for the earlier stage, when you are budgeting before any lender is involved.
Closing costs sit on top of the down payment, and the two together are your real cash to close. I keep this estimator next to my down payment calculator and home affordability calculator because the three questions always arrive together: what can I afford, what do I put down, and what does closing add on top. And like everything on this site, the math is local to your browser, so your numbers are not uploaded or logged anywhere.
Who is this tool for?
First-time buyers saving toward a purchase. If you are targeting a 350,000 dollar home in suburban Atlanta, running the line items tells you whether to plan for 7,000 or 12,000 in costs, and that difference can be months of saving.
Comparing lenders. Origination fees and points are where quotes differ most. Enter each lender's numbers and the total does the comparing for you. My loan comparison tool handles the related question of rate versus fees over the life of the loan.
Deciding whether to pay points. Add a point, watch closing costs rise, then check the monthly saving with my mortgage payment calculator to see how many years the lower rate takes to repay the upfront cost.
Sanity checking the Closing Disclosure. When the final document lands three days before closing, compare it against your own estimate. Fees that appeared from nowhere are exactly the thing you are allowed to question before you sign.
Frequently asked questions
Typically somewhere between 2 and 5 percent of the purchase price in the US, but the spread is wide. Loan fees, title insurance, and prepaid taxes and insurance make up most of it. The line-item approach here exists precisely because that headline range is too vague to budget with.
Not even close. Transfer taxes, title insurance rates, and whether an attorney is required all vary by state, and some fees vary by county. That is why every line in this estimator is editable rather than locked to a national average.
Some of them. Origination fees and points are negotiable, and title services can often be shopped. Government recording fees and transfer taxes are fixed. In many markets you can also negotiate seller credits that offset your costs at the table.
Money collected at closing that is not really a fee: property taxes and homeowners insurance paid in advance, plus interest covering the days between closing and your first payment. It is your own future expense, just collected early to fund the escrow account.
A Loan Estimate is a regulated document your lender must produce after you apply, with tolerances on how much fees can change afterward. This tool is an informal planning estimate you can run before applying to anyone. Use mine to budget, and trust the lender's document once you have it.
No. They are separate money on top of the down payment. Cash to close is roughly down payment plus closing costs minus any credits, and forgetting the second half is the classic first-time buyer surprise.
No. The estimator runs entirely in your browser. Your purchase price and fee numbers never touch a server, and you can verify that by loading the page and switching off your connection.